NAB’s boost for working parents

National Australia Bank’s 28,000 Australian staff will soon be able to accrue long service leave entitlements while on parental leave.

The change, billed to be an Australian first, is part of the bank’s latest enterprise agreement negotiated with the Finance Sector Union that will operate until March 2016 once it is approved by the Fair Work Commission. Staff will be able to count up to 40 weeks of unpaid primary carers’ leave for accruing long service leave entitlements.

Finance Sector Union national secretary Leon Carter said “we’d like all financial workers to have access to these types of provisions because they go a way to addressing the gender pay gap and the gap in retirement incomes of men and women.”

The FSU is well advanced in talks with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia over a new agreement for its workforce. Agreements covering Australia and New Zealand Banking Group and Westpac Banking Corporation are also due to expire by year’s end.

Michaela Healey, NAB group executive for people, communications & governance said “This decision will ensure that NAB parents, particularly mums, aren’t penalised in the workplace for having children, or taking time off to care for them.”

A spokeswoman said the move came about after NAB conducted a gender pay equity audit, in conjunction with the FSU, to investigate possible causes or barriers to equal pay.

Lisa Annese, chief executive of Diversity Council of Australia said she hoped others would follow NAB’s lead.

Ms Annese said the move “will help address the significant gap in entitlements that many carers experience as a result of taking unpaid primary carer’s leave – and the majority of these are of course women.”

NAB has also committed to introducing remuneration reviews for all employees returning from parental leave – with some 1200 NAB employees taking primary carers’ leave each year.